Persephone’s Mass1
I.
The Actors
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Two Novices Squire Celebrant Herald Everyman Babalon
II. The Preparation of the Temple Lights low, curtains closed and hung with silks. Furniture removed, floor scattered with cushions. Corner Altar decked with Fresh Fruit and Flowers; upon it lies a jug of wine thickened with Myrrh and Spices . Wall Altar covered with Silk, decked with Flowers and Fruits. Altar in the Window is heavy with Offerings. It is surrounded with Plants, covered in Silk and lain with Pomegranates, Dates, Red Fruits and Fine Spices; with Lilies, Ivy and a Sunflower. Incense of Abramelin burning on the Corner Altar and on the Window Altar three censers: one of Myrrh, one of Frankincense, and one of Dittany of Crete. Upon the Window Altar lie a Marchpane figure of the Holy Family, crafted by the Priestess and placed thereon by Everyman. There is a plate of salt, and cups of Water from the Red Spring, and the White. Beside the Altar are clean towels, dressings and a bowl of water, to tend the Holy Wounds. At the center of the Altar is a space, into which the Priestess will be borne aloft. To the left hand of this space lies a simple Cup; to the right, a Paten of Cakes of Light, and a Knife. Upon entering the Temple, congregants will be asked to divest themselves of coats, bags and shoes. They must take their Offering and place it upon the altar. They are then offered the hospitality of the house: Rose and Mugwort tea, and a single pomegranate seed. Once the congregation has arrived and 1
Persephone's Mass is Copyright (c) Georgia van Raalte with Dave Moore, 2017. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Use, abuse, share, copy, promulgate -- burn it if you wish! But always in accordance with thy Will.
partaken of the fruit, a thorough Briefing takes place. Once all questions have been answered satisfactorily, and all participation made known, the congregants take their seats along the Pillars of Mercy and Severity. The other actors take their place; the Herald at the Left of the Altar, in Binah, the Squire at the Right, Chokmah. Before the Altar, in Yesod, stands Everyman, emboldened with Sword, Shield and Disk. Behind him, at the back of the room, stand the Celebrant, armed with the Lance. Novice one stands amongst the congregation at Chesed, and Novice two at Geburah. Once arranged thusly the Celebrant retrieves Babalon from her confinement, escorts her to the Altar and places her upon it, in Kether. The Celebrant then retreats, clockwise around Everyman, returning to his place in Malkuth. With the Participants thus arranged, the Rite becomes a glyph for the crossing of the Abyss. Everyman passes through the ecstasy of Tiphareth, and describes the Path of the Serpent. He traverses in the Emptiness of Knowing in order to gain his Babalon. The Celebrant is placed in Malkuth; this is permissible, for the Celebrant is the Mirror and Double of the Priestess. For Everyman is not true Priest here but the Pharmakos, Scapegoat and Fool. It is the Celebrant who is Adept and Priest. He is the male aspect of Binah, the Peacock, and in this New Rite he takes his place where the whore used to lie. The Rite is thus a play upon the Traditional Mass, one offering a glimpse into the Mystery of the Avalonian Initiation Formula.
III. The Rite
I.
Prologue
Squire: Come with me, child; walk with me down these dark train tracks, air thick with sweat and grime. Pass through the chain-link fence into Hades’ Town. [ The Squire beckons to the Offerings laid on the Altar] We come bearing gifts, red fruit and rubies. Hold your precious load tight, spill not one drop, for the dogs and vipers surround us. Journey on, past the watching billboard eyes, down the pomegranate-lined avenue. Consider the mystery of the Seed in the Underground as we approach the rosebud throne and see Her, [ Squire gestures to Babalon] Supine amongst the ancient roots of that first, broken tree.
II. The First Hymn Novice I : Praise Be the Great Sea The Deep before the Fall Our Lady of Salt and Misery Binah, Mother of All Praise Be to her Daughter, BABALON, The Mother of Slaughter. For Babalon is lonely, Our Goddess writhes in mud; She is flogged and broken, She is trodden underfoot. She descends, for us, To the cave of Inanna She is anointed with the sacred ochre, Lain leaking upon the floor. Our Lady and Mother is reborn; For every pain and every cruelty, Every lash, every mortal affront Only increases the raging strength Of her Ravaging Cunt, Passive and lifeless as a clam shell Swallowing feces and spitting out pearls. For our Lady has no use for Vitriol Our Whore has no hard crystal shell She knows the refraction of stars in space Her starry skin is all out-pouring Her cuts bleed afresh every time. But this is her spell, Her overflowing For pain and joy walk hand in hand: And this is what the Whore knows.
She is the abused; She becomes the abuser. No safety with this Goddess here. She is yours in her infinite multiplicity Novice II: [ Vengefully] Until you cum For you must end and break her heart And she is yours no more; [ Shouting] I tell you BABALON will leave you [ Pause] [ Quietly, wistfully] She is already gone [ As to a lover] For Our Lady of Abominations is infinite And you are temporary. This is the mystery of Nuit, Languorous in the embrace of her consort; Temporary and eternal, The meeting place of all, and naught. Hers is the mark where force meets form. [ With feeling] Our Lady BABALON is not your vision of debased splendour She is our conflation The life which is not The unification of all possibility With the mundane point. And one cried to the other and said: [Loudly! ] Holy, holy, holy, Lord of Hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory!
V. The Passage through the Narrow Gate Herald: Standing alone in the middle of a midnight desert, I see the stars that whirl as a halo around me, and an oasis in the distance. It is ringed with a wall, and a line of skeletal camels stretches from its gate. Each monstrous quadruped bows its head to squeeze through the narrow archway and I know that I must do the same. But the desert is long, and empty, and though my way lies straight I can see, from corner of my eye, a host of other temples. There is the Temple of Thunder, and the Temple of the Lightning Flash; and a Greater Temple for the pregnant, silent pause between Her brothers. Shining and spherical, they are of another order than the desert which I tread. [ Resigned] I must learn the splayed-hoof-walk of the camel among the dunes; I must learn to trudge among the futile masses if I am to gain the welcome of that Dark City. Squire: So we must journey between star-fortresses; We must strip, even to our very skin, That we might fit through the narrow gate. [ Pause] [ Hisses triumphantly] At last! We win the Castle with its endless corridors marble giving way to rough stone.
[ Softly, as to a lover] Round walls, dripping And the smell of smoke Proclaim the Holy Caves Oh, Holy Caves, Wherein lies the Cup of Abominations, Supine upon a silken throw All gleaming jewels and worn-out skin, Kholled lids and blood-stained chin Open thighs Impenetrable eyes [ Final lines fading away, as if talking of a dream or vision]
VI: The Second Hymn Novice II: Come unto me, my Goddess for I could Love you ten years before the flood, And, that you be satisfied, A thousand years unto your eyes A decade for each breast, at least, An aeon for the flesh beneath A thousand thousand years to go To every finger, every toe To skin which is as red as roe To lips which are as white as snow The blood removed Unto my cup And this I hold aloft to sup Oh, Innana, Ancient Queen Of all those things which can’t be seen You are Lady of my dreams You are She of Silent Screams Novice I: You had fallen in the dirt Your Holy Name had been besmirched You descended to the cave So that our darkness You might save For we are bright And You are black And You offer What we lack You have delved the depths of filth Prone as foetus in the piles
Of blood and shit and human guilt Oh you who know the purple skies That time has past, you do arise! All blood and bright bodacious breasts All matted heart and stinking breath Oh, Innana, Our Lady of the Bitter Sea Give all of it, give every piece, Give all of it to me!
VII. The Invocation of Stinking Flesh Everyman: [ Softly, tenderly; as to a child] Oh, my love, my dark pit My persecution, my frothing, writhing fit You are all. The epitome of woman And her greatest shame You stand tall, My desire is inhuman And you are to blame [ With awe] You are life itself, Splitting boundaries of skin. [ Rises to his knees, clasps his hands for a moment, as in prayer; the next lines spoken tenderly, paying tribute] So here you lie, Supine before the fire, Fire tracing patterns on your rotting, wrinkled skin; I will traverse every crevice, every sin Fingers and eyes tracing Stretchmarks and scars; Tongue ears nose Tracing Black Holes and stars. Wrinkled leather falling from bones;
Of your skin a coin-purse sewn For the fisherman -- Yeah I will peel the skin from flesh, To offer beauty to the blessed. To hang you all about my throne. [ Rises onto one bended knee] [ Hungrily] For you: My paramour I will feast forever more Piece by piece so tender, Yea I will eat your splendour [ With desire] Oh, my love, My beautiful, broken whore: You lie supine for you are paralysed Your greed by Chaos himself chastised; For you rode the Great Beast day and night You fought the good, eternal fight Until he punctured your intestine, Split you clean in two: Strung your insides out upon a vine Made sweetmeats out of you. Now you lie, Twisted and rotting; Your rose skin turning blue. [ Everyman rises to his feet] [ Says, in submission] You are all power, And I am helpless but to grovel At the foot of your stinking tower At your filthy witches’ hovel. To beg you, Let me pay tribute To your rotting, rancid wounds
Let my tongue Trace deep and darkened moons I am young, My ancient one with eyes wide Let me drink the puss that seeps from your side; Give me my lance! [ Squire hands Everyman his Lance; Everyman raises it before Babalon] [ With desire; but tenderly] My Love My Whore! I wish to sup Your face, Your buttocks And your breasts; I wish to taste your liver, Your kidneys, And your lungs. My love! I wish to taste the iron on my tongue. Let me sip From your bleeding cunt; Let me drink that sweet, stinking Wine of immortality. [ Begging] Oh, my Goddess: Let me escort you to the banquet chamber Let me offer you my final particle of dust; Let me thread you onto a smooth cypress pole Let me smell the warm, spicy scent Of your roasting flesh Oh, Goddess, allow me to partake Of that most forbidden sacrament. [ Everyman cuts a cross into the center of the sigil on Babalon’s chest with the lance; kneels before Her and sups warm blood straight from the cut. After drinking his fill he retreats, kneels with head bowed before her]
VIII. Babalon Speaks Babalon : These poor fools. They worship the red and the pleasure and pain, The witches and women, and they think that they know me?! Little children play in mud and dare to question the truth of the darkest sacrament. Approach my throne, Crawl on hands and knees down the Cut glass path. Fall there, prone, Pressed against the floor of blood and ash. Let me trample thee, sister. For there are no gilded roses here, No crows nor wheeling gods. Here, before my rosebud throne, There is silence, and the slow drip of blood. You are nothing Of the worms, Slithering. Your wormhood is my joy. [ Babalon raises her arms aloft] I am already here! I have already said yes! My legs are already open, My wide cunt already wet I do not want you in gold and jewels For I am sick, and I want filth to match mine. In dirt is my holy of holies. I am all your darkness
I am all your lack-of-life I am all your blood red I am all your black night I am every cave and crevice I am stainèd dawn. I am Lady of the Abyss; Lady of the Pomegranate I am flowing, passive darkness; I am the midnight flood; I have no blood Only thick black ichor Approach me with your lance [ Babalon touches Her own bloody chest] See me freed [ Babalon licks blood from Her finger] For I am She who rode the Dragon; All Abominations spring from me. I demand you come before me naked, As a child, Blood and leaves stuck in your hair, Eyes open and mind wild I bid thee bare thy breast, be bold Fear not my sacral knife For here dwell Fearful Gods and old Fear not Their watching eyes. My secret was always that of the Phoenix That of the monthly moon To fall, blackened upon the floor To rise, red and renewed [ Babalon leaps up, steps forward and wrests Lance from Everyman. Strikes him and pushes him to the floor. Feet dangling over Abyss, head in Yesod. Babalon stands over Everyman, her foot on his stomach, the butt of the Lance on his chest; Kali-esque.] How to describe my light, my darkness The pearl I stole and crushed between rotting, pearly teeth.
Broken truths fill thee - the pink bud bursts black Verily I say to thee rail not against the world of form! You are the point inside the circle, and thus is all joy. Now revel, roll in blood, For ecstasy ends; Hear tsimtsum, and know that you are temporary. Oh child, yours is not the path of the meek or the humble - now is the time of saints: preach to me, my profit, for dark lights glow in dark waters. [ Babalon hands Lance to Squire; kneels before Everyman] Kneel with me at the foot of the rood, Feel the warm red rain soak your skin, your net of hair Spreadeagled in the sky declare Thy sacrifice, For thou art forsaken. My truth is given to the worm and rose alike, to the howling wolf and the dying ram. So worry not for your chariot, my child, Gild not the edges, For in the Abyss there is an abundance of Nothing. [ Babalon rises, and returns to the Alter] Only listen to the light, and fear not the Dying God. Oh, Agori. Thine is the kingdom. Seek not the Abyss, For it lies in the pit of thy stomach.
III. The Mystery of the Eucharist: Liber Cheth vel Vallum Abiegni Celebrant: This is the secret of the Holy Graal, that is the sacred vessel of our Lady the Scarlet Woman, Babalon the Mother of Abominations, the bride of Chaos, that rideth upon our Lord the Beast. [ Babalon picks up her Cup and holds it aloft, then places it back on the Altar.] Thou shalt drain out thy blood that is thy life into the golden cup of her fornication! [ Everyman steps forward from Yesod to Teth and forward unto Babalon. He presents his chest; Babalon picks up her Knife and Disk from the altar, and cuts a circle round the disk gently, as a lover. She places the Knife and bloodstained Disk back on the altar, picks up her Cup and catches the blood in it. Everyman steps back to Teth.] Thou shalt mingle thy life with the universal life. Thou shalt keep not back one drop. [ Babalon picks up Water from the White Spring the Altar and pours it into her Cup. She picks up Salt from a plate on the Altar, and sprinkles this into her Cup. She raises the Cup aloft and then places it back on the Altar.] Then shall thy brain be dumb, and thy heart beat no more, and all thy life shall go from thee; and thou shalt be cast out upon the midden, and the birds of the air shall feast upon thy flesh, and thy bones shall whiten in
the sun. [ Novice one picks up the silken scarf from off the Altar and blindfolds Everyman. Returns to place.] Then shall the winds gather themselves together, and bear thee up as it were a little heap of dust in a sheet that hath four corners, and they shall give it unto the guardians of the abyss. [ Novice two forces Everyman to one knee. Returns to place.] And because there is no life therein, the guardians of the abyss shall bid the angels of the winds pass by. And the angels shall lay thy dust in the City of the Pyramids, and the name thereof shall be no more. [ Pause.] Now therefore that thou mayest achieve this ritual of the Holy Graal, do thou divest thyself of all thy goods. [ Everyman springs up, unbuckles his Sword and forces it on the Squire. Gives up his Lance to the Squire lays it upon the altar] Thou hast wealth; give it unto them that have need thereof, yet no desire toward it. [ Everyman takes the Disk or Shield, and forces it on the Herald. Herald lays it upon the Altar.] Thou hast health; slay thyself in the fervour of thine abandonment unto Our Lady. Let thy flesh hang loose upon thy bones, and thine eyes glare with thy quenchless lust unto the Infinite, with thy passion for the Unknown, for Her that is beyond Knowledge the accursèd one. [ Everyman lurches forward and snatches Salt from the Altar; rubs it into the wound on his chest] Thou hast love; tear thy mother from thine heart, and spit in the face of thy father. Let thy foot trample the belly of thy wife, and let the babe at her breast be the prey of dogs and vultures. [ Everyman seizes figurine of Holy Family from altar, stamps on it and
smushes it.] For if thou dost not this with thy will, then shall We do this despite thy will. So that thou attain to the Sacrament of the Graal in the Chapel of Abominations. [ Novices seize him and force him to both knees.] And behold! if by stealth thou keep unto thyself one thought of thine, then shalt thou be cast out into the abyss for ever; and thou shalt be the lonely one, the eater of dung, the afflicted in the Day of Be-with-Us. [ Novices shove Everyman’s face into the smushed up figurine, smear it over him; force him to eat the dirty mass. Upon swallowing Everyman falls to the ground, struck dead. He lies as a Corpse; head resting on Malkuth and feet dangling over the Abyss.] Yea! verily this is the Truth, this is the Truth, this is the Truth. Unto thee shall be granted joy and health and wealth and wisdom when thou art no longer thou. [ Squire and Herald approach the prone Everyman with Sword and Shield; prod him, as if curious boys with a dead dog] Then shall every gain be a new sacrament, and it shall not defile thee; thou shalt revel with the wanton in the marketplace, and the virgins shall fling roses upon thee, and the merchants bend their knees and bring thee gold and spices. Also young boys shall pour wonderful wines for thee, and the singers and the dancers shall sing and dance for thee. [ A raucous performance, unchoreographed and farcical: the Wanton arises to kiss his uncaring lips; the Virgin lays the rose upon him; the Merchant kneels and places gold and spices at his feet. The Young Boy pours water from the Red Spring over his head. Everyman lays as dead throughout] Yet shalt thou not be therein, for thou shalt be forgotten, dust lost in dust. Nor shall the æon itself avail thee in this; for from the dust shall a white ash be prepared by Hermes the Invisible.
[ Celebrant takes the jug of wine from the corner altar and, standing astride the prone body of Everyman, offers it to Babalon. Babalon picks up her Cup from Altar. He steps forward, kneels before her and adds the wine to Babalon’s Cup. He places the jug on her right side. Babalon offers him the Cup and he takes it from her, raising it in awe] And this is the wrath of God, that these things should be thus. [ Celebrant drinks deeply. Offers the Cup to Babalon, who raises it in joy] And this is the grace of God, that these things should be thus. [ Babalon drains the Cup and places it back on the Altar. Celebrant turns to face Malkuth] Wherefore I charge you that ye come unto me in the Beginning; for if ye take but one step in this Path, ye must arrive inevitably at the end thereof. [ Celebrant returns to his place in Malkuth, turning to face Babalon.] This Path is beyond Life and Death; it is also beyond Love; but that ye know not, for ye know not Love. And the end thereof is known not even unto Our Lady or to the Beast whereon She rideth; nor unto the Virgin her daughter nor unto Chaos her lawful Lord; but unto the Crowned Child is it known? It is not known if it be known . [ Babalon raises her arms] [ Pause] Therefore unto Hadit and unto Nuit be the glory in the End and the Beginning. All: yea, in the End and the Beginning.
IV. The Eucharist Herald: Omari tessala marax, tessala dodi phornepax. Amri radara poliax armana piliu. Amri radara piliu son'; mari narya barbiton Madara anaphax sarpedon andala hriliu. [C hant is maintained as each Congregant in turn comes to stand before Babalon, beginning with the Herald on the Left. Babalon offers the Congregant a Cake of Light which he raises to her and consumes. Babalon pours the Congregant a cup of wine and offers it; the Congregant raises this, and consumes. Congregant returns to place; Babalon wipes the rim of the cup with a handkerchief. Chanting continues until all have supped and return to place.]
IX. Diogenes’ Confession All Congregants and Actors [barring Babalon upon the Altar and Everyman, who is dead]: We Confess The Beauty and Strength of Our Lady Babalon and Her Noble Lord Chaos We Confess The Sanctity of the Stinking Cup We Confess That all of Us, every cell, is Divine All Adoration To the Mystery of the Abyss To She who guards the Gate, ankd to the Darkness therein.
IX. Closing Hymn [ As the Closing Hymn is sung, Babalon descends from the altar and kneels before the congregation. She removes all Her jewellery, slowly, piece by piece. For She is not in these baubles but in dead skin, and the wanton heart of a child] Novices : [ Soft, repetitive chanting of Omari tessala marax.] Herald: [ Kindly, as after much bloodshed] The rock rolls on, but Sisyphus teaches the truth that empties cities. All is well. We tear down statues, sack temples, raize our relics to the ground. Too few rise from the shitheap and brush the ashes from their robes; too few raise their eyes and see that the sky is still blue, that the heavens did not fall at our insolence. Too few stop to notice as the air rushes in and back out of their lungs. Oedipus, and the cool hand of a girl. All is well. [ Chanting continues until all jewellery removed, whereupon Babalon climbs atop the prone Everyman, cradled on his chest, and is still]
X. Epilogue [ As the squire offers his speech, the Herald offers each of the participants a single pomegranate seed.] Squire : [ Arms raised to the sky] Oh Goddess, fill me with falsity, that I may speak these signifiers, that I may circle the infinite light [ Arms describe a circle as they fall to his sides] Before Nuit, there is only the spreading of pentacles. Filled with her bloody light I tell thee there is a further secret, that of the caustic spheres, the meeting cups, rotating bodies; for that which appears a circle is infinite - infinite radiance, infinite change, infinite immutability; and when these circles come together, infinite difference. These secret circles are of a different order than the rod, and this is not an easy path, guarded, as it is, by gargoyles. So let us leave this dark cave now, child. I will bandage your broken skin, plait your hair, matted with blood and glass, into a net of starlight, better to rescue poor fools who tread too far in sleep. Let us leave this rotting rosebud throne - its Queen will remain, hidden, as she is wont to do, playing her games under your skin. Emerging from the cave thou see her not, and rail against the light. Trust thy initiatrix, oh child and fool. Clutch the bandage tight and spill not one drop of that pomegranate blood. Knowing that which is beyond cruelty, measure cruelty with kindness; knowing that which is beyond love, remember we are temporary. FIN